Manufacture of jewelry



No. 752,816. PATENTED FEB. 23,1904.

'5. P; BENNETT."

MANUFACTURE OF JEWELRY. APPLICATION FILED m 9. 1903.

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UNITED STATES Fatented February 23, 1904.

ERNEST F. BENNETT, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO.

MANUFACTURE OF JEWELRY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,816, dated February 23, 1904.

Application filed April 9, 1903. Serial No. 151,828. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ERNEST F. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of J ewelry, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of jewelry and other ornamental articles; and it has for its object to provide a process by the practice of which pieces of jewelry and other ornamental articles closely simulating gold nuggets may be easily and cheaply produced.

With the foregoing in mind the invention will be fully understood from the following description and claim, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a scarf-pin having an imitation-gold-nugget head produced in accordance with one embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a scarf-pin having a head produced in accordance with another embodiment of my invention, and Fig. 4: is a transverse section taken on the broken line 4: 4 of Fig. 3.

In the present and preferred practice of my invention I take equal parts of fine yellow brass and pure copper and melt and mix the same in a crucible or the like. I then reduce the mixture to ingot form and roll the ingot into a sheet of the thickness desired, after which I cut the sheet into pieces of a common size and weigh each piece to assure the production of ornamental articles of a uniform size. With this done I melt each piece separately and drop each molten portion into a medium calculated to cause it to assume a form closely simulating a natural-gold nugget.

To produce a nugget of metal alone, such as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and lettered A, Idrop a portion of molten metal into a loose mass of clay crushed into small pieces in order to cause the metal to assume a rough shape, as shown, and when the metal is set soak the piece in a solution of caustic potash for about one week, this latter to remove the clay from the recesses of the piece. The result will be a nugget closely simulating a natural-gold nugget and of fine appearance. The loose mass of clay makes the nugget more closely resemble a natural-gold nugget and is further advantageous because of the facility with which it may be removed from the nugget subsequent to the formation of the latter.

To produce an imitation-quartz nugget B, Figs. 8 and t-w'. (2., a nugget comprising metal a and pieces 6 of quartz or other foreign substance embedded therein-I drop a portion of molten metal into crushed rock, sand, or other substance adapted to give a rough shape to and at the same time be taken up by the metal. This latter product closely resembles a natural-quartz nugget and is rich and ornamental in appearance.

While I have described my improved imitation-gold nuggets as being formed of equal parts of fine yellow brass and pure copper, I desire it distinctly understood that they may be formed of any other metal; also, that they may be plated with gold to enhance their finish, when desired, without involving a departure from the scope of my invention.

As will be readily appreciated, the rough state of pieces of jewelry and other ornamental articles produced by the practice of my process renders the same rich and attractive in appearance.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

The herein-described process of producing an imitation nugget, which consists in reducing metal or a mixture of metals to a molten state, and dropping the same while still in a molten state upon an unconfined mass of material reduced to small pieces, whereby the whole of the exterior of the metal is caused to assume a form simulating a natural nugget.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERNEST F. BENNETT. 

